Lonely Days of Summer
by Christin Picks the Banjo
Summary: Remus Lupin is crazy about his perfectly normal, perfectly beautiful, perfectly Muggle neighbor and great friend. So what's Sirius Black got to do with all of this? Final Chapter is up!
1. Chapter One

**Long Winded Author's Note, Anyone?**

This is a Remus-centric fic. (And the crowd goes 'Duh'.) It will briefly feature your other fave Marauders (since we all love Peter Pettigrew!... Syke!), but will mostly focus on everyone's favorite Werewolf. And this is straight hetero, kids. Turn back now if that disappoints you! Not your typical Marauder-Era fic, either. It's not set at Hogwarts, for one thing, or even after the lads graduate from Hogwarts. The relationship I'm going to explore is Remus and a Muggle gal. Not your cup of tea? Don't read it. This is for the true Remus fan who doesn't wanna be bothered by lesser characters such as Sirius, James, Dumbledore... Harry Potter. ;)

That said... please read, review, and above all, enjoy.

**Chapter 1**

Life was exhausting for Remus Lupin. Being a Marauder kept you on your toes... constantly. With friends like Sirius Black ("Come on, Moony! It's just a quick drop off the Astronomy Tower, right?"), James Potter ("Staying up five consecutive days and nights without any sleep will NOT kill you, Remus."), and Peter Pettigrew ("Do you s'pose we COULD light Sprout's knickers on fire?"), one was constantly alert and ready for anything. Which was tiring, to say the least.

Add Remus' prefect duties on top of the chore of being best mates with the biggest troublemakers in the school. In addition to his regular school responsibilities (and classes were exhausting enough), Remus still had to find time to patrol corridors, mentor first year students, sponsor one extra-curricular activity for his house, and keep some form of order in the Gryffindor Common Room during the evenings.

There was also the slight drawback of being a werewolf. About a week before (and a few days after) the full moon, Remus felt as if there were weights attached to his limbs, and a constant light-sensitive headache pounded behind his eyes. He never felt like doing homework during these times, it was a burden to tell off rowdy kids in the Common Room, and he literally had to tell Sirius, James, and Peter to sod off about four times a day to keep from doing anything stupid or potentially dangerous.

As much as he would miss his best friends, Remus lived for the summer. Being a Marauding-Prefect-Werewolf had its benefits, and at times was even a blast, but was tiring as anything. Two thirds of that strange combination was subtracted during his summer break, and it was a welcome relief.

It was nearly end of term now. Exams were officially over with the completion of Astronomy, which had been held the night before the last day of term. It was nearly midnight as all the Gryffindor sixth-years trooped back up to their dormitories.

Sirius Black flopped onto his bed and pulled a pillow across his face.

"Smother me," he instructed anyone who was listening, "That was the longest exam of my life."

"Well it's over now," James Potter reminded his best friend, pulling the pillow away from his face, "So don't off yourself. What'll I do all summer without you?"

"Er... stay out of trouble?" Sirius suggested, displaying his lop-sided grin.

"Jesus, Moony, you're not PACKING!?" James asked, his voice raising an octave or so, as per usual when he was excited, nervous, or being particularly annoying.

"No, James, I'm not packing. I'm just putting my things in my trunk for my trip home," Remus quipped, carefully folding a few sweaters and placing them at the bottom of his trunk.

Peter laughed and looked to James for his reply. James merely shrugged and sat at the foot of his bed.

"Moony, do it after the feast tomorrow night like a normal person," Sirius ordered, sitting up and throwing his pillow at Remus' head.

The pillow hit the floor with a 'flump'. Remus ignored this and continued his packing, his upper half briefly disappearing under his bed to collect a surprising number of shoes that had accumulated over the year.

"Peter, your nasty trainers are under here," came Remus' muffled announcement from beneath his bed.

"Pack 'em for me," was Peter's reply, as he pulled off his robes, keen on nestling into his bed.

"Pack your own," Remus muttered, sending the shoes sailing into the center of the room.

"Moony, why don't you pack all of our trunks?" Sirius suggested, "Jamie and me'll pay you for it. Wormtail will shine your shoes or something."

Remus gave no reply.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. Sirius Black wasn't used to being ignored, even if Moony managed to do so almost half the time Sirius spoke to him. Remus smiled from beneath the bed, enjoying how his silence was probably driving Sirius nuts right about now. Sure enough, Remus felt the floor shake a bit, and knew Sirius had jumped down from his bed. Footsteps came closer and closer to Remus' bed, and before he knew it, there were hands around his ankles and he was being dragged on his stomach from beneath the bed.

He lay there momentarily on his stomach, legs hoisted halfway in the air, Sirius' hands still around his ankles.

"Bloody hell, where's the house elves when you need 'em?" James asked in mock-shock as Remus rolled onto his back, totally covered in dust bunnies.

"Moony, you're a sight for sore eyes," Sirius said in a high pitched voice, batting his rather long eye-lashes. He dropped Remus' legs to the floor and flopped down next to Remus on the ground.

'Sirius flops an awful lot,' Remus thought lazily, admiring Sirius' ability to flop just about anywhere; chairs, couches, grass, beds, his desk in McGonagall's class, hard-wood-floors.

Remus lay his head back on the cool wooden floor and folded his arms across his chest. Nearly his last night in Gryffindor Tower, then back home for the summer. Summer meant a multitude of things; playing chess with his dad, long talks in the kitchen with his mum, laying out on his hammock in the backyard to read a book at his leisure, swimming laps in the pond by the Jenkins' run-down farmhouse... Summer meant seeing Shelby.

A smile played at the corner of Remus' lips at this thought. Shelby would be home a week or so after him, making the trip all the way from America, and in Muggle-fashion, no less. She'd listen intently to Remus' adventurous tales from the recent school year, they'd go for long walks together, she would come over with an arm-full of books and they'd share his hammock, both content with their novel and each other's silent company.

Sirius interrupted Remus' thoughts with a sudden joyful outburst of "Merlin!"

"What?" Peter, who had just gotten comfortable, asked a bit groggily.

"That little blonde girl from Ravenclaw! You know... hell, what's her name... Amelia? The good looking short one?" he looked around for support.

"Yeah, she's in Arithmancy with me," Remus replied, rolling over to look at Sirius, propping his elbow on the ground and supporting his head with his hand, "What about her?"

"Well, she's moving," Sirius grinned.

"What's that got to do with us?" James asked, sliding his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose.

"It's got nothing to do with you, mate. It's got everything to do with me," Sirius raised one eyebrow and smirked.

"All right, all right, what's Amelia Thorn's moving got to do with YOU, Sirius?" Remus asked, taking Sirius' bait.

"She's moving... across the street... from Jamesy-boy," Sirius announced slowly.

His declaration was met with dead silence.

"So?" James asked, dropping backwards on his back, "I thought you were gonna tell us something important for a minute."

"I am!" Sirius said defensively.

"So tell us," James stated simply.

"Amelia! Moving across the street from you, James! She's perfectly shaggable and quite in my reach!" Sirius announced this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"She's not moving across the street from YOU, Sirius," Remus reminded him.

"No, but moving across the street from James is the next best thing. It's practically my house anyway," Sirius said this last part a bit wistfully.

"Yeah, yeah, it IS practically your house," James supported, nodding vigorously.

Sirius beamed at his best friend and continued, "Anyway. I've already laid the groundwork with her. Caught her alone in the Owlery the other night… We had a snog session she won't soon forget. She was practically floating back to the Ravenclaw dormitory. By the end of the summer I'll have bedded that one, mark my words."

"What if she doesn't wanna sleep with you?" Peter asked sleepily.

"Why wouldn't she?" Sirius asked, genuinely confused by Peter's question.

Peter shrugged as best as he could from his laying-position and pulled his blanket up to his chin.

"Well, I'M excited about it, at least," Sirius said with a bit of a pout.

"Good for you, Padfoot," James supported.

"Thank you, Prongs," Sirius replied loftily.

"What about you, Moony?" James asked, removing his glasses and setting them on the end table next to his bed.

"What about me?" Remus asked cautiously.

"Oh, Beautiful Muggle Girl who conveniently lives next door to me in the country!" James said in a Remus-esque voice, "You're gorgeous and funny and we used to take baths together!"

"No we didn't," Remus said quietly.

"That's not the point," Sirius said with a flick to Remus' head, "The point is... are you gonna tell her this summer, or what?"

"Tell her WHAT, exactly? 'I'm glad we're friends, Shelby'? Because that's all there is to it," Remus sighed and pulled himself off the floor, wincing a bit as a stab of pain shot through his leg. It hurt just to walk to his bed... Transformation a few nights ago had been brutal...

"You KNOW there's more than that!" Sirius barked, jumping off the floor, "You know you were about two seconds away from shagging her rotten when I came over last summer!"

"Was not," Remus mumbled, sinking onto his comforter.

"Wait, wait, who are we talking about?" Peter asked, finally deciding to join the conversation.

It was on the tip of Remus' tongue to say 'Just a mate from home,' when James interrupted.

"Merlin, Peter, how thick can you get? We're talking about Remus' soul mate!" James tossed a shoe at Peter.

"Sorry," Peter mumbled, pushing the shoe off to the floor, "But I still don't know who it is."

"You actually know her brother," Sirius said, "He's that tall seventh-year bloke in Hufflepuff. Only wizard in his family. Remmy's girl is a Muggle through and through. Right shaggable if you ask me, though."

"Please don't call Shelby 'right shaggable', Sirius," Remus requested patiently.

"Whatever you say, Moony, but it's the truth. I popped in last year--"

"Literally! Dropped by in the fireplace without so much as a warning!" Remus interjected.

"--And there was our 'lil Remsy on the couch with--" he allowed his voice to go quite a bit higher, "--SHELBY and if Remus wasn't about to have it off with her right then and there on that sofa, well then... I'm... I'm best mates with Severus Snape!"

"Was he kissing her?" Peter asked, his eyes wider than usual.

"No!" Remus answered defiantly.

"It was about to happen!" Sirius smirked.

"Even if it WAS about to happen, YOU ruined it by showing up!" Remus snapped. Great. He had allowed his temper to flare up, making it all the more obvious to his friends that they were quite right; he DID have feelings for Shelby, and yes, he WAS about to kiss her with everything he had when Sirius turned up that day.

"Sorry mate!" Sirius said with a very irritating grin, "But you DO have all summer to nail her."

"Oh shut up," Remus muttered, kicking off his shoes in Sirius' direction. Sirius dodged the flying foot-wear and laughed his way across the room back to his bed. James laughed as well and rolled off of his bed to undress. He and Sirius stripped off their robes, t-shirt and trousers and fell into their beds, still giggling in that grating way.

Remus sat on the edge of his bed, sending mental-anger-vibes in Sirius' direction before imitating his friends' action and stripping down to his boxers. He gingerly climbed into his bed, ignoring the pain in his leg. As exhausting as Remus Lupin's life was, he found it very hard to get any rest that night. He kept thinking about Shelby...


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N** Thanks for reviewing the last chapter, y'all.

This chapter is just a bit of a filler chapter. Next chapter (which should be up this afternoon before five or so) will feature the gal everyone's been wondering about. Well... maybe you haven't been wondering about her at all. But it'll feature Shelby anyway. So. There.

Oh, and I do apologize if Sirius is a bit... well... stereotypical. But the guy is just so easy to characterize, huh? So I guess I'm actually saying sorry that Sirius is so Sirius.

Read, review, enjoy!

**Chapter 2**

"Bye James and Sirius and Remus! Have a good summer!" Peter called as he leaned out his car window, despite him mother's protest of "Peter Pettigrew, you're going to fall out of the car!"

"Bye Pete! You too! Have fun!" Remus, James, and Sirius called back, laughing at the way Peter's mom reached over and yanked him back into his seat.

"Well! Come on, Jamesy, let's get back to your place so we can go across the street and spy out the best ways of sneaking into Amelia's new house before she moves in," Sirius commanded, dragging James toward his trunk.

"All right, all right," James consented, rolling his eyes at his enthusiastic best friend.

"See ya, Remus. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Sirius said with a wink and a slap on the back to Remus.

"More like 'don't do anything I WOULD do'," James corrected, pushing Sirius out of the way to wring Remus' hand.

"Ooh, before I go... let's make a pact, Rems," Sirius said thoughtfully, "We leave Hogwarts this year as boys... we come back in the fall as men!"

"And what, exactly, does that mean?" James asked, shaking his head slowly.

"You know what it means, Prongs. I nail Amelia this summer, Remus gets his Shelby. What do you say?" Sirius grinned widely, fully expecting Remus to whole-heartedly agree to this plan.

Remus simply rolled his eyes in reply, but then had a sudden thought.

"Hey Padfoot... if you plan on dropping in sometime this summer, you could maybe... give me fair warning," he suggested this with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Well Moony, just don't make your move on the couch right in front of the fire place, and you'll be fine," was Sirius' reply. He grinned at James and the two of them collected their trunks and headed off towards James' parents car.

"Hey! I mean it, Sirius! Sirius, are you listening?!" Remus called after him. Much to Remus' frustration, Sirius didn't turn to acknowledge his call.

"Wow... that IS annoying," he muttered to himself, making a mental note to not ignore Sirius as often as he normally did.


	3. Chapter Three

**A/N** I've noticed that I enjoy writing Remus wearing his undies. Ha! Wow... I'm just a little bit crazy.

Oh yeah... I've tried my best not to make Shelby a Mary-Sue. But this is written mostly from Remus' point of view... and he thinks she's just about the most perfect girl in the world, so it's a bit biased. But I promise I won't use the phrases 'dazzling smile' or 'lithe figure'. ;)

Read, review, and enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

Remus lay on his back in bed, arms folded behind his head, staring at the ceiling. It had been five days since he had been home and, as much as he hated to admit it, he was already quite bored. He had read his way through four novels, finished his holiday essay from Professor McGonagall on the wand movements required for the transfiguration of large mammals, and had played (and lost) seven games of chess with his dad.

Remus rolled over on his stomach and buried his head in his pillow. What would Sirius, James, and Peter say if they were here?

'You're more boring than Binns, Remus,' would certainly be James' complaint.

'Moony, you lazy dog, get out of that bed and put some clothes on,' he could almost hear Sirius demanding.

'You're not going to read _another_ book, are you Remus?' Peter would whine.

Remus almost smiled, thinking about his three best mates. He wondered what they were up to. He amused himself with the idea of James and Sirius getting into loads of trouble while breaking into Amelia's house across the street. Peter was probably surrounded by his brothers and sisters while snacking on a cake his mum had recently pulled out of the oven. Remus sighed. He missed them already.

There was a knock at his door. He reached around and pulled his blanket across his boxer-clad-backside.

"Come in," he called, his voice muffled by the pillow he still had his face buried in.

He could tell his mother had entered the room, as her entrance was usually accompanied by the smell of fresh laundry. Sure enough...

"I've washed all of your robes, sweetie. And your socks were a sight. Do you run around without shoes on at school?" his mom's quiet voice asked.

Remus mumbled, "Sometimes," into his pillow.

He heard his sock drawer being opened, then a moment later, closing. His closet opened and the rattle of hangers was heard. Finally, the door shut, his mother crossed the room, and he felt his bed sink a bit at the end.

"Bored?" Mrs. Lupin asked.

Remus rolled over to his back to look at her.

"No," he lied.

His mother smiled knowingly at him, and he had to give her a half smile back.

"Well, you can always weed and de-gnome the garden," she said, reaching over to pat him on the leg before standing up. She briefly glanced over his nearly spotless room on her way to the door.

"Why can't I be like an ordinary mum and tell you to clean your room?" she asked with a smile, her hand resting on the doorknob.

"Because you don't have an ordinary son?" Remus suggested, sitting up and running a hand through his mussed-up hair.

"You're right," she grinned, stepping into the hallway, "And now my extraordinary son, something that'll make you happy and probably a lot less bored."

"What?" Remus asked, yawning hugely.

"Shelby is home," she smiled and closed the door behind her.

It took Remus a moment to process this. When it finally clicked, he leapt out of his bed (sending a stack of parchment beside his night stand flying across the floor), crammed his feet in his trainers, pulled on a t-shirt, realized that he had to put on pants before his shoes, yanked off his trainers, jumped into a pair of shorts, threw his trainers back on, then double-timed it out of his room and down the stairs. Mrs. Lupin was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting.

"Fifteen seconds," she told him.

Remus rolled his eyes, but had to grin. Right now, his mum could tease him to no end and it wouldn't matter one little bit. Shelby was home! Two days early!

"How long has she been here, Mum?" he asked, now attempting to rake his hair into a presentable style, as he hadn't bothered to comb it after his shower that morning.

"Oh, an hour or two," she replied, tucking the tag from his t-shirt into his collar.

"Two hours? And you didn't tell me?!" he asked, his voice unusually high. 'Merlin, I sound like James,' he thought.

"Well sweetie, I figured she'd want to say hello to her father before you stormed over there," she said gently.

Remus sighed. His mum was right. And what would it look like if he took off running over to her house? He may as well scream 'I love you!' and get it over with. Actually, the more he thought about that option...

He didn't have much time to ponder over this course of action, as the doorbell rang a few seconds later. Remus looked at his mum, who smiled at him and walked back towards the kitchen. He grinned and crossed the living room to the door.

Looking through the peephole, he could see Shelby standing on the porch, wearing a pair of shorts, an old Rugby shirt that probably belonged to her brother, and a ratty pair of trainers. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

He swung open the door and immediately scooped her into a hug. She stood on her tiptoes to reach around his neck, and when he straightened up, his hug lifted her off the ground.

"You're so much taller!" she gasped, her eyes widening as her feet left the ground entirely.

"I think you're just shorter," he laughed, setting her down.

"Seriously, Lup!" (he grinned at this nickname) "I think you've grown about five inches!" she stood back to admire his height, "And you're bigger, too. Wider, I mean," she indicated his shoulders, which _had_ gotten quite a bit broader over the past school year.

"Yeah well..." he trailed off with a shrug.

"What about me?" she asked, spinning in a slow circle.

He narrowed his eyes and chewed on his bottom lip. She had changed a bit, as well. For one thing (and he tried to get this thought out of his mind very quickly), her chest had gotten bigger. He willed himself to find something else about her that had changed. She had cut off quite a bit of her long black hair; it now fell to just above her shoulders. Her eyes were still hazel, not quite green, but not quite brown. She was short and fairly thin, with muscular legs from various sporting activities. To Remus, she was absolutely perfect.

"Just as pretty as before," he said, probably blushing furiously. He noticed a flush creeping along her face as well, which caused his face to become, if at all possible, even more red.

"Like my hair?" she asked, tugging on a lock that fell close to her face.

"Yeah. When'd you chop it?" he asked, as he raked a hand through his own hair.

"A few weeks ago. It's quite a bit hotter in the states, I had to get rid of it," she flipped her hair away from her eyes and smiled at him.

Remus smiled back and shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning against the door.

"How was the trip home?" he asked.

"Tiring. A flight, a long bus ride to the junction, then a car ride out here. I'm jealous of how my brother travels. If he goes to see Mum in the states, all he's got is a flight, then the Floo thing. Seems to be a lot less of a fuss," she shrugged and plopped down onto the porch swing.

"Well, you got through in one piece," he said with a shrug, joining her on the swing, "You're brave to get on one of those flying contraptions, you know."

"A lot safer than you boys and your broomsticks," she challenged, shaking her head, "Do you remember when you were playing Quidditch and your friend James fell off his broom and snapped his wrist?"

"Yeah," Remus said, trying not to laugh as he thought of Shelby's face when she saw the bone from James' wrist broken and puncturing through his skin.

"That was disgusting," she said with a shudder.

"Yeah," he repeated, unable to think of anything more intelligible to say. Just sitting there next to her was intoxicating. He wanted to lean over and run his fingers through her hair, sweep it away from her neck, trail kisses along her jaw. She was so beautiful... and so _close_.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to see you over Christmas break," she said with a sigh, "We wanted to fly out that Friday night, remember when I called? The snowstorms were so bad at the airport that we couldn't get any flights out for a week. By the time the planes were up and running again, it would have been pointless to come home. I'd have to turn around a day later to go back."

"Yeah," he said for the third time. 'Oh good Lord, Lupin! Get a grip on the situation!' his mind shouted. He cleared his throat, "I missed you. We didn't get to have our snowball fight."

She smiled, "Or our hot chocolate by the fire afterwards."

"My favorite part of Christmas hols," he said a bit wistfully.

She played with the chain on the porch swing for a moment, before looking up at him.

"How's Sirius?" she asked.

Remus blinked. How's Sirius? Why'd she want to know about Sirius?

"Sirius?" he repeated, a bit blankly.

"Yeah. Good lookin' bloke. Comes around here every now and again. A best friend of yours?" she reminded him jokingly.

"Um... he's good. Probably breaking into a girl's house as we speak," he said with a smile.

She raised an eyebrow, "Breaking into a girl's house?"

Remus explained Sirius' summer love interest and her moving across the street from James, leaving out the part about her being 'very shaggable and quite in his reach'. Shelby frowned a bit.

"Think he'll be around at all this summer?" she asked.

Remus just looked at her for a moment before responding.

"I suppose he might," he replied quietly.

She nodded, then stood.

"Hey Lup, I'm gonna go get something to eat, then I'm gonna run to the store. I'll see you later this afternoon, if you wanna talk a bit more." She smiled at him.

"Oh... um... well... all right," Remus managed to stammer.

She smiled again and turned to walk down the steps. When she had crossed half the lawn, she turned and looked back at him.

"You look great, Remus," she said a bit shyly.

A huge grin spread over his face for about the millionth time since he'd first seen her that day.

"So do you, Shelby," he replied.

She smiled, waved, and completed her trek across the lawn. She broke into a jog at his front gate, and kept tracking until she had reached her own front porch. Remus watched her all the way, until she disappeared inside her house.

**A/N** What do ya think of Shelby? And what's with her questions about Sirius, hmm? You'll have to keep reading to find out. Review, it'll inspire me to write more.


	4. Chapter Four

**A/N** Thanks for the great reviews, ladies and... more ladies... I'm assuming most of the peeps who read cutesy romantic Remus fics are girls. Otherwise... I'm worried.

By the way. My Remus is not Remus from the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. He was sorta ugly and... mustachey. Ha! Um... yeah, that kept me laughing for about five minutes. Anyway, I think David Thewlis did a fairly decent job (not a GOOD job, mind you) in portraying Remus as far as his characteristics and personality goes, but he was just not a very good-looking man. Le sigh. So yeah... thought I'd clear that up.

Wow, everyone was thoroughly opposed to the slight hinting at Shelby/Sirius. I shall now cackle in an evil manner for a few moments... finished.

Read, review, enjoy!

**Chapter 4**

Remus walked slowly into the kitchen. Mrs. Lupin's back was to him, as she stood at the stove preparing some casserole or other. Remus sank into a chair at the small table and watched his mother disinterestedly as she cooked.

"Something the matter, Remus?" she asked suddenly.

Remus wondered how his mom had the uncanny knack of sensing his mood without even looking at him. 'Must be a mum thing,' he thought.

"Not really," he answered, without much conviction in his voice.

She turned to regard her son with raised eyebrows.

"All right... it's Shelby," he conceded.

"Ah... what about her?" she asked, joining him at the table.

"Well, it's nothing, really... she just..." he struggled to find the right words without it sounding insanely jealous.

"Yes?"

"She asked me about Sirius, Mum! _Sirius_! She's only seen him, what, three times in her life, and she asks about _him_?" Remus knew now that he sounded as if he was throwing an envious tantrum, but he didn't care.

"Remus, sweetie, I'm sure it's nothing. She just wanted to know about your friends, that's all," Mrs. Lupin comforted him with a pat on the hand.

"Didn't sound like that," he mumbled, lowering his head to rest his chin on the table, "And anyway, if she just wanted to know about my friends, why didn't she asked about James and Peter, too?"

Mrs. Lupin regarded her son with a mildly amused look.

"What's going on with you, Remus? You're never this concerned over something that isn't an issue. It's not like you to get so worked up."

"I know... but... it's Shelby. I really like her, Mum," Remus said this quietly, as if he were revealing a great secret to his mother.

"I know you do," she said, just as quietly. She smiled, stood and walked back to the stove to continue her cooking.

Remus sighed loudly, then stood as well. As he walked towards the entryway, his mother asked, "Where are you going?"

"To weed and de-gnome the garden," he replied.

---

About two hours later, Remus sat in the garden nursing a rather nasty gnome bite on his pointer finger. His mom had mended it for him, but it was still fairly painful. Bloody gnomes... A noise at the gate made Remus look up to see Shelby striding through the grass.

"What are you sitting around for, Rems? Your mum said you were weeding the garden. You look as if you're relaxing to me," she smiled and sank down next to him in the long grass.

He held up his finger to reveal the remnants of a cut that had swelled up a bit.

"Aw, Lup! What happened?" she asked sympathetically, gently taking his hand to examine the injury.

"Gnomes," he stated, realizing that simply having her hand around his made him extremely happy. He forgot about the pain in his finger for a moment...

"We get one of those in our garden every now and again. Sneak in from your yard, I'll bet," she said with a nod, "Does it hurt?"

"Nah," he said bracingly, which wasn't exactly the truth; it was throbbing quite a bit.

She gave him a dubious look.

"All right, a bit," he admitted, smiling at her. She smiled back and gave his hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it.

"Landon's just told me about your prank on a few boys this past term... something about multiplying mice in someone's Common Room?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, that wasn't _my_ idea... okay, so... technically it was, but I never thought Sirius and Peter would actually go through with it. We got detention for a week. Somehow, when Peter gets caught, the rest of us go down with him," Remus shrugged, remembering his suggestion to put a multiplying charm on a couple of rats (nicked from McGonagall's classroom), put them in the Slytherin Common Room, and when someone tried to vanish or get rid of them, they'd spread like wild fire. It had worked perfectly.

"Clever idea, Lup," she laughed.

Remus nearly melted. He realized how much he had missed the sound of her laughter. For the second time that day, he felt like leaning over and kissing her.

"I'll bet Sirius gets you in trouble all the time," she said, picking at a blade of grass.

Again with the Sirius talk. Remus frowned.

"Yes, he does," he replied flatly.

Shelby seemed to be in deep thought for a few moments. Remus watched her out of the corner of his eye, while pretending to be examine his dirty fingernails.

"Hey Remus," she asked suddenly.

"Yeah Shelb?"

"Do you remember last summer, the day before I was headed off for school? We were sitting on your sofa in the living room and..."

"And Sirius showed up," Remus finished for her, his frown deepening to form lines between his eyes.

"Yeah," she answered slowly.

"Of course I remember," he said a bit darkly.

"Well... before he showed up... it seemed as if there was something you wanted to tell me," she looked as if she were embarrassed to say this.

Remus knew he was blushing. There _was_ something he had wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her that he had loved her since he was about ten years old, that she was the most beautiful girl in all the world, that he wanted to kiss her until it made her dizzy, that all he ever wanted was her...

... And then Sirius had shown up.

She was looking at him expectantly, her hands picking quietly at a long strand of grass.

"I suppose I just wanted to tell you that... I was going to miss you, that's all," he lied pathetically.

"Oh."

Did she look disappointed? Remus couldn't tell, as she had looked back down into the grass that surrounded them. He sighed, causing her to look up at him.

"I'm boring you already?" she joked, tossing a blade of grass at him.

"Yep," he joked back, that goofy 'Shelby's Around Me' grin spreading across his face.

She smiled back at him, then laid back in the long grass. He spread himself out next to her, and they spent the rest of the afternoon together, talking a bit, but mostly enjoying each other's silent company, watching the clouds roll by.

**A/N** Come on Rem! Tell the girl! Rem is shy... and we're not quite sure _WHAT_ Shelby's thinking at this point. Ha! Don't ya hate that?

Thanks for reading (and hopefully enjoying), now review!


	5. Chapter Five

**A/N **Wowser. I'm so sorry it's been ages, but it's been busy…

Well, some of you are just _not_ going to like this chapter. That's all there is to it. But don't you dare flame me with your 'Down with Sirius/Shelby!' Got it? Good.

**Chapter 5**

Remus swallowed heavily. He had forgotten that Shelby's window was across from his... and that she often kept her drapes open on summer nights... and that her pajamas consisted of a barely-there pair of shorts and a rather _small_ tank top.

'_Why_,' he asked himself, '_Why_ is she standing in front of the window, stretching and letting her hair down?'

He permitted himself to gawk as long as his decency and morals would allow (he _was_ a sixteen year old male, after all), then turned quickly away from the window. He flicked off the light and threw himself into bed, angry suddenly (but not totally sure why) at Sirius. Why would she ask about him so often, while she barely knew him? Why should she call him 'that good looking bloke', having only seen him two or three times?

'To hell with him,' he thought grumpily, not really meaning it. He quite liked Sirius, after all, they were the best of mates. Sirius knew all of Remus' secrets... and was still his friend, regardless. Sirius was funny, surprisingly considerate at times, spontaneous...

'And such a _good looking bloke_', he thought grudgingly, pulling his pillow over his face.

Shelby lay stretched out next to Remus, one hand dangling over the side of the hammock and grazing along the grass, the other held a book entitled 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Remus had his eyes closed, under the pretense of being asleep, when in reality, he was thinking very hard about whether or not to slip his arm around Shelby's shoulders and pull her close to him. It was so perfect... she was already incredibly close.

'Just do it, Lupin, you giant coward,' his mind taunted him. Funny, the voice in his head was beginning to sound incredibly like Sirius.

"Remus!"

Wait a second... that _was_ Sirius!

He sat up and looked around almost wildly. Sure enough, there was Sirius Black, striding across the yard.

"Moony, it's been ages!" he called, grinning that stupid, lopsided, goofy grin of his.

What in the _world_ was he doing here? Remus jumped up from the hammock so fast that it nearly flipped completely over. Shelby fell to the grass, her book flying from her hands.

"Jeez, Lup, glad to see your friend?" she grumbled.

"Let me help you up, Shelby," Sirius said loudly, raising his eyebrows, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. He stood (in Remus' opinion) unnecessarily close to her, still holding on to her hand.

"Hi," she said almost shyly, a flush making its way across her cheeks.

"Just as pretty as last summer," he said, with a wink.

Shelby giggled, her cheeks becoming even redder.

Remus closed his eyes briefly, the spectacle becoming too much for him. She was blushing, she was _giggling_, and Sirius was flirting with her shamelessly. Of course, Sirius flirted shamelessly with _everyone_...

"Any reason you're here, Sirius?" Remus asked calmly after slowly counting to ten.

"Well, I missed you, Moony! And of course... I had to see Shelby. Once a year just isn't enough, now, is it?" he smiled charmingly at her, and Shelby shook her head, an incredibly wide smile on her face.

'This is a nightmare,' Remus thought, shoving his hands in his pockets, 'I'll wake up any second now.'

It proved to be worse than a nightmare, however, as Sirius decided that he wanted to stay for dinner, then head across the yard to introduce himself to Shelby's dad, then proceed to invite Shelby over to James' the next weekend. The whole evening, Shelby was completely enthralled with everything Sirius had to say, she made blatantly obvious physical contact with him, and totally ignored Remus.

Remus grew sulkier and sulkier as the night dragged on. No one seemed to care, and he was on the verge of just storming up to his room and slamming the door with all of his might, when Sirius _finally_ announced that he was leaving.

"Night, Shelby," Sirius said with a wink, pulling her into a hug, "Think about coming to that party I told you about."

Remus fumed and his first thought was to run over to the pair, yank Shelby out of his grasp, and slug Sirius in the gut as hard as he could.

"Bye Moony," Sirius said, his voice innocent, but a particularly mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"Good bye Sirius," Remus said as formally as he could manage.

"Walk me to the fire place, Remus," Sirius said with a grin.

Remus rolled his eyes and strolled the ten feet over to the fireplace.

"How's it going?" Sirius asked conversationally.

"Why in God's name did you come here?" Remus hissed, fully aware that Shelby was sitting in the armchair at the other end of the room.

"Why, I'm offended. I just wanted to see my good friend Remus Lu--"

"Cut the crap, Sirius," Remus growled.

"Just wanted to see how things were going between you and that vuluptuou--"

"You finish that sentence and I'll kill you."

"Moony, you're such a prude. I just wanted to see how things were progressing between you and Shelby. You're obviously getting nowhere, mate," Sirius shook his head sadly.

"So since I was getting nowhere, you took it upon yourself to come over here and feel her up?" Remus almost shrieked. He lowered his voice a bit and pointed towards the fireplace, "Go. Before I decide to transform a few weeks early and rip your face off."

Sirius furrowed his brow a bit.

"I'm just trying to help you," he said a bit testily.

"Help me by leaving," Remus said sharply, pointing towards the fireplace once more.

Sirius frowned, but did as Remus said.

"Bye Moony," he said in a quieter voice than usual. His tone almost made Remus feel guilty for chewing him out... almost.

"Bye Padfoot," Remus sighed.

Sirius dropped some Floo powder carelessly, muttering, "Twelve Grimmauld Place."

Then he was gone.

Remus stared at the empty fireplace where Sirius so recently had stood.

There was a long silence.

"Fun chap, Sirius," Shelby said casually, as Remus slowly turned to face her.

"Yeah, really fun chap," he repeated, struggling to keep the bitterness from his voice.

"You didn't seem very happy that he was here, Remus," Shelby said very matter-o-factly, "I thought he was one of your best friends."

"He _is_ one of my best friends, Shelby," Remus sighed, slowly lowering himself to the floor in front of Shelby's chair, "He just has the uncanny knack for dancing about on my last nerve."

Shelby narrowed her eyes and said nothing; she simply studied Remus intently for a moment.

"The two of you are very different, Lup," she seemed to decide.

"You're right. Sirius is annoying, and I'm not," Remus said with a _very_ slight smile.

Shelby considered this, nodded, and then leaned forward. She looked straight into Remus' light brown eyes, and with a very thoughtful expression, whispered, "I think Sirius will always say what he's feeling. I think that's what I like about him. He's very honest."

Even if Remus could have thought of an answer of any sort to give to Shelby's last statement, he would have had no time to express it, as Shelby stood quickly, sidestepped Remus, and walked determinedly through the living room. Remus' mouth had just dropped open as he heard the front door close...


	6. Chapter Six

**A/N **What in the absolute crap? The weirdest thing in all of life just happened. Get this: I had forgotten about writing this story (it was like, over five years ago when I updated!) and about the existence of . I never for one second forgot that I love Remus Lupin, naturally. ANYWAY. Today I watched the Prisoner of Azkaban movie and as I was looking at Remus (played by the oh-so-darling David Thewlis*), I found myself wondering what he would have been like as a teenager. All of the sudden, whatever muse inspired me to pen this story in the first place crawled out of the deepest recesses of my brain and pretty much mule kicked me in the chest, causing me to remember this cute little work of fiction. Well, I'm biased. I think it's cute because I wrote it. But anyway, I know I probably won't get many reviews, and that anyone who used to follow this story and check for updates is long gone, but I'm going to finish the story, come hell or high water. The muse is back. _Remus_ is back. Let's do it. Sorry about the sixty-three month hiatus.

*I think back when I wrote chapter four, Prisoner of Azkaban must have just come out in theaters. I HATED how they cast Remus and I was hating on David Thewlis HARD-CORE, but now I love him to freaking death. I even think he's _sexy_. I know, right? What in the total hell? So this is an official retraction of the statement made in the author's note of chapter four where I describe David Thewlis as 'ugly and mustachey'.

**Let's do this! Chapter Effing Six!**

_It's especially essential while concocting healing potions that the preparer remember Shelby Anne Dixon-_

"Oh, bloody hell," Remus muttered as he crossed out the last line he'd written for his potions essay. Why on earth he was even attempting to write the stupid paper was beyond him. The whole idea had been to get his mind off of Shelby and what she'd said after Sirius left, but it just wasn't happening. He looked over his ruined paper. It was totally splattered with blobs of ink, and what little information actually pertained to healing potions was interrupted every few words with crossed out combinations of Shelby's first, middle and last name.

"You are _such_ an arse," he scolded himself under his breath, wadding up the parchment and tossing it in his rubbish bin. He rubbed his eyes with his fists and let out a lengthy sigh, wondering for the millionth time what the hell had happened the night before.

_Sirius_. That's what happened the night before. Remus sneered and was half tempted to jump up from his desk, storm downstairs, jump the Floo network to 12 Grimmauld Place, and call Sirius out into the street for an all-out fist-fight. He sighed. As outrageous as his thoughts could get, with Remus, reason always won over rashness. But it bothered him. Why'd he have to be so damn cautious? _Sirius_ wasn't cautious. _Sirius_ did whatever he felt like. _Sirius _said whatever he wanted to say. _SiriusSiriusSirius_. A wave of anger and jealousy flashed over Remus as he remembered Shelby asking about Sirius. "Think Sirius will turn up this Summer?" "Sirius always says what he's thinking. _That's what I like about him_."

"Well, like him then, for all I care," he murmured. He turned to his window and glanced out towards Shelby's. Just seeing the curtains waving in her window was enough to make him recant.

'_Don't_ like him. For God's sake, don't. I _do_ care. I care like hell,' he thought desperately.

"Remus!"

His mother's call from downstairs interrupted his pitiful thoughts.

"Yeah?" he called back.

"Dinner, honey! Why don't you ask Shelby and Landon to come eat with us?"

He stomach flip-flopped. He hadn't seen Shelby since after dinner the night before. Was she upset with him? She had seemed upset when she left... annoyed at least. And how could he face her, knowing she might question him about Sirius? My God, what if she _really did like him_?! The weight of this prospect dropped in the pit of his stomach like a load of bricks. Sheer panic rose inside of him and for a split-second he felt like his knees were about to buckle. Luckily, his mom called upstairs again.

"Remus? Did you hear me?"

Reason claimed his senses once more. 'Snap out of it, Lupin! You're acting insane,' his sensible side scolded.

"Yeah, Mum!" he called, clarity returning to his thoughts.

"Just go over and ask her to come to dinner, you idiot," he mumbled, "And stop talking to yourself."

He rang the bell at the Dixons' and leaned against the porch railing. He heard heavy footsteps thundering down the stairs and the door flew open.

"Hey, Landon," Remus said as Shelby's older brother opened the door and surveyed him.

"Lup," he said with a nod, stepping aside for Remus to come in.

"Going somewhere?" Remus asked, noticing as he entered the room that Landon reeked of cologne and that his hair was wet as if he'd recently showered.

"Shelby and me were going into town to catch a movie with some friends," Landon said, raking a hand through his hair. He turned and called upstairs, "Shelby! Lupin's here!"

Shelby came trotting downstairs and Remus practically melted. Her black hair was hanging down loosely and she was wearing cut-off jeans with a bright green t-shirt that read 'Mallard Creek High School'. How was she so gorgeous? It was almost unfair. No way was _she_ ever that impressed when _he_ was wearing an old t-shirt and jeans. In fact, that's what he was wearing right now and she sure didn't look like she wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him with all her might. He suddenly realized that was what _his_ expression must look like, so he quickly flashed her the most casual smile he could muster.

"Hi Shelbs," he said.

"Hey Lup," she replied, hopping down the last step. Alright, she couldn't have been _that_ annoyed with him, she called him 'Lup'.

Feeling encouraged, Remus asked what movie they were going to see.

"Not sure yet," she said, checking her appearance in the hall mirror, "The theater in town only shows two flicks. We're just meeting Ray and Tanya and we'll decide when we get there."

"Oh, I wanted... I mean, my mom wanted me to come ask you guys to dinner," he shrugged.

"Oh man," Landon groaned, "Your mom's a good cook. Dad's awful at cooking and Shelby isn't much better."

Shelby frowned.

Remus shrugged again, "Yeah... no big deal. You guys could come over tomorrow."

"Come to the movie with us, Remus," Shelby said, slipping her feet into a pair of sneakers that were heaped in a pile of random shoes by the door.

"Alright. I have to run and get some Muggle money from my mom. Unless they take galleons at the cinema," he joked.

"They don't," she smiled, "We know from experience. One time Landon accidentally paid with a... sickle? Is that what it was?" She looked at Landon, who rolled his eyes, and continued, "But don't worry about it. It's my treat."

"You're sure?"

"Positive!"

After running home and grabbing a sweatshirt and telling his mom where he was going (she looked nervous at the prospect of Remus riding around in a Muggle vehicle), Remus joined Shelby and Landon in their dad's ancient truck that Remus was pretty sure should only be (and had been at some point in time) used for transporting farm-animals about the country.

"It smells like sheep in here, huh?" Shelby asked, reading his thoughts.

He laughed but thought to himself that all he really smelled was her... she smelled like green apples and clean laundry. He also smelled Landon's ridiculous cologne, but he tried to ignore that and focus on the fact that for the next half hour, he'd be jammed right next to her in the truck. Her hair tickled his arm and he wanted to reach over and push it away from her face. He resisted the urge and looked out the window, instead.

Landon was an awful driver. Remus was sure if his mother knew the amount of times the truck swerved off the road, and the unbelievable speed at which they traveled, he'd never be allowed to set foot in an automobile with Landon Dixon ever again. But they eventually made it to the movie house. Landon and Shelby's friends Ray and Tanya were waiting in a relatively short line to buy tickets. After introductions had been made (Remus had never met Tanya and had only seen Ray once in a shop), everyone agreed to see what Shelby described as a 'horror film'. Remus tugged on her elbow and pulled her out of ear-shot of Ray and Tanya who were chatting animatedly about something called 'zombies'.

"Why is it called a 'horror movie'?" he asked.

"Because it's meant to be... horrific. Why? You scared?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Do I look scared?" he asked, face purposely expressionless. She burst out laughing.

"Bored, actually," she answered.

"What's a zombie?" he continued, enjoying making her laugh.

"A reanimated corpse," she returned.

"Gross," he said, wrinkling up his nose, "You like this stuff?"

"It's fun!" she said, giving his arm a slug.

"It better be. This is the first movie I've ever seen, I don't want it to ruin my experience," he told her.

"You've never been to a movie?" she asked, completely caught by surprise.

"Nope," he replied, shrugging.

"Never? Not one time?" she seemed thoroughly perplexed. It was awfully cute...

"Never. Not one time," he parroted.

"What's _wrong_ with you?" she teased.

"Well..." he cast a quick glance around, "Wizards don't go to movies. We don't have cinemas."

Shelby laughed and shook her head in amazement.

"How did I not know this about you? Gosh, Lup, movies are like... a staple to 'Muggle' dating culture," she said.

He raised his eyebrows as they started walking towards a tiny old man taking tickets by the entrance.

"What would you do if you wanted to take a girl on a date? Where would you go?" she asked.

"I don't know... a concert? Dinner?" he said. She nodded and handed her ticket to the old man. Remus copied her action and watched interestedly as the man ripped their tickets nearly in half, then handed them back to Remus. He looked at Shelby, amused and she gestured to the door, indicating that they were now 'allowed' to enter the theater.

"Really though," he continued, "I'd probably just make a picnic lunch and take... her... down by the Jenkins' place. They have that huge old tire swing out in the pasture. And if it was Summer, we could swim in the pond. Lay out in the field together and wait for the stars to come out..."

Remus felt his face go red. He abruptly clamped his mouth shut, thinking he must sound like the world's biggest ponce. He thanked his lucky stars that it was semi-dark in the movie house, or she would have seen his face turning crimson. He couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, but even if he had been able to, he wouldn't have been capable of reading her expression.

"Remus," she said quietly, "That sounds... really sweet."

He felt ridiculous. He never knew what to say or how to act or even where to look when he was embarrassed. If he were at school, he'd just clam up and wait for Sirius or James to break the ice. But he wasn't at school and Sirius wasn't here. Remus rolled his eyes... His greatest wish a day before had been for Sirius to stay as far away as possible. Now he wished Sirius was there to ease the situation.

Feeling awkward, he followed behind Shelby as she located Landon, Ray and Tanya. Everyone fell into conversation. Ray and Tanya both loved to talk, and their conversation revolved mostly around films. Remus didn't have much to contribute (unless they wanted to hear what he'd learned about projectors in his Muggle Studies class) so he mostly stayed quiet. Ray leaned forward and asked Remus what his favorite movie was, and Remus was relieved that he didn't have to give an answer, due to the lights dimming even further and the projector clicking on.

Remus found it quite interesting, seeing a movie for the first time, although he wasn't totally sure how this particular movie could actually be considered 'entertainment' and wondered if all films were like this.

About halfway through the film, Shelby leaned over and whispered, "Are you cold?"

"Nuh uh," he answered, watching in mild fascination as a woman on screen let out a ridiculous scream.

"You don't think it's cold in here?" she asked, "Not even a little?"

"Do you want my sweatshirt?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, and if he'd been paying closer attention, he'd have noticed her shoulders droop slightly at his offer. He handed her his sweatshirt and wondered vaguely when the movie would be over.

"So, what did you think?" Landon asked as they piled into the truck later that night.

"Very... interesting," Remus answered.

"That's quite the diplomatic answer," Shelby said, her tone lacking expression.

"What?" Remus asked, shrugging, "What else am I supposed to think about it? It was interesting."

"That's the first movie you've ever seen and all you can say is that it's interesting?" she pressed.

"I... liked the... imagery?" he offered, remembering something Ray had said earlier in their pre-movie film discussion that had sounded quite pretentious at the moment, and even more pretentious now coming from Remus, as he had absolutely no idea what it meant when applied to film.

Shelby huffed, and Landon asked, "What's _your_ problem?"

"I hate going to that theater. It's freezing in there all the time. They show the dumbest movies," she looked at Remus with furrowed eyebrows, as if all those things had been his fault.

"So bring a jacket. Or just don't go," Landon said, rolling his eyes.

Shelby firmly crossed her arms across her chest and stared forward. Remus wondered what was really bothering her. And when the heck she had become so moody. She was annoyed with him the night before (because apparently he wasn't Sirius?), changed her tune and invited him to the movies that night, seemed to be enjoying herself, but was suddenly in a foul mood. He was thoroughly bewildered.

"Is something else bothering you?" he asked quietly.

She opened her mouth and a 'yes' seemed to be on the tip of her tongue, but she quickly shut her mouth and shook her head. He didn't believe her for a second and was going to ask _again_ what her issue was, but instinct told him not to push it. It did bother him, though, as Shelby was never in a bad mood like this. She was usually so laid-back, so cheerful. What had gotten into her? 'She's probably wishing Sirius had come with us tonight,' he thought bitterly, turning to face the window and scowling.

The ride home seemed excruciating. Remus wracked his brain to think of ways to keep Landon engaged in conversation, but Landon wasn't much of a talker, and Shelby wasn't helping out one bit. Remus finally gave up and resigned himself to fiddling with a piece of cushioning and spring that had wormed its way out of the cracked leather on the seat of the truck.

Landon pulled into Remus' driveway (nearly running over a rather unfortunate chicken, who clucked wildly and took off across the yard at lightning speed) and Remus nearly leaped out of the truck. He said his goodbyes quickly and sprinted up the front steps and into his house. He closed the door behind him and heaved a very hefty sigh.

Remus didn't take any time to mentally dissect the events of that night. He knew what he had to do. He crossed the room in a few strides, slid open the top of his mother's roll-top desk and grabbed a piece of parchment. He hastily scribbled a message and as he jogged out to the backyard, he blew on the paper to dry the ink. He swung open the shed door, hoping his family's large barn owl, Zeus was inside. As luck would have it, Zeus was just finishing up his meal of what had once been a large field mouse.

"Zeus, I need you to deliver a letter," Remus said, calling Zeus down from his perch, "I need you to bring this to Sirius."


	7. Chapter Seven

**A/N** Another chapter… Things are progressing. Really. They are. Sirius is back in this chapter! It's so nice to have around for a laugh. No Shelby, though. She's at home pouting or something.

**Chapter 7**

Remus paced back and forth in front of his fireplace, clutching the worn piece of parchment in his hand.

'Where is he?!' he thought. He yanked open the piece of parchment and double-checked (for the millionth time) the time Sirius had indicated he'd be arriving. 11:00. It was now fifteen minutes past.

"Just like Sirius to be late," he muttered, giving up his pacing and flinging himself onto the sofa. He abruptly leaped back to his feet as he saw the fireplace erupt into green flames. Sirius came spinning into the room, looking disheveled.

"Could you spare a minute?" Remus snapped, skipping any sort of pleasantry.

"Don't you even!" Sirius snapped back, sticking his finger in his fellow Marauder's chest, "If you're going to start up with your... _wanker routine _again, I'm going right back home."

"Wanker routine?" Remus repeated, losing his train of thought completely and cocking his head to one side.

Sirius burst out laughing.

"You should see the look on your face," he chuckled, brushing his t-shirt off and flopping down on the sofa. He put his feet up on the coffee table and looked around the room.

"Where's your girlfriend?" he asked casually, relaxing and putting his hands behind his head.

"At her house, presumably," Remus replied, choosing to ignore Sirius' description of Shelby as his 'girlfriend', "Being royally pissed off, if she's still in the same mood she was in last night." He knocked Sirius' feet off the table and plopped down next to him.

"What'd you do to her?" Sirius asked.

"I didn't _do_ anything," Remus said.

"Well, that's your first problem, mate," Sirius snorted.

"_What's_ my first problem?" Remus asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"She wants you to make a move, you great, stupid prat!" Sirius exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, "Bloody hell, Moony, you're the smartest bloke at Hogwarts, yet you can't figure out when a girl is in love with you!"

"Me?!" Remus nearly shouted, "In love with _me_? Then why has she been on about _you_ all bloody Summer?"

"Oh, she has not," Sirius dismissed Remus' remark with a wave of his hand.

"You haven't heard her! It's _Sirius_ this and _Sirius_ that!" Remus yelled, finally getting to the reason he'd asked Sirius over in the first place, "What did _you_ do to her?"

"Are you cracked?!" Sirius barked, "What do you mean, what did I _do_ to her?"

"You know what I mean, you smarmy bastard!" Remus shouted, jumping off the sofa, sending his mum's knitting needles and yarn flying halfway across the room, "Coming over here all cock of the walk and flirting with her, right in front of me!"

"Bugger off," Sirius snapped, leaping to his feet as well, "I came over here to try and help you, you tosser."

"Oh, why, thank you so much!" Remus said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "What would I do without your _help_?"

Something flickered in Sirius' eyes and Remus thought things might just get ugly, when suddenly, his mother walked into the room.

"Sirius," she smiled, "I thought I heard your voice."

Sirius blushed. Remus nearly laughed, as it was ridiculously uncommon for Sirius Black to get embarrassed. If Mrs. Lupin noticed his face turning crimson, she didn't acknowledge it.

"Did you come for lunch?" she asked, still smiling at him.

"No," Remus quickly answered, "We're uh... going to Shelby's." He put his hands on Sirius' shoulders and bodily forced him out of the room.

"Do you think your mum heard all that?" Sirius asked when they reached the front porch.

"Probably," Remus mumbled, throwing himself on the porch swing. Sirius pushed back his black hair and surveyed Remus expectantly.

"What?" Remus asked.

"I thought we were going to Shelby's," Sirius offered smartly.

"I'm going. To kill you," Remus annunciated slowly.

"Come off it, Remus," Sirius said, sincerity replacing his previous tone, "I _don't_ like Shelby. I'm not flirting with her... on purpose. I mean it. I'm really trying to help you. I know you love her, mate."

"I know," Remus sighed, "Sorry I was a bit of a..."

"Prick about it?" Sirius offered.

"I suppose," Remus replied, a small smile at the corner of his lips.

"It's alright, mate," Sirius shrugged, "You can't help it if you're intimidated by my irresistible charm."

"Oh, _shut up_," Remus sighed, dropping his head into his hands.

"So. You want my advice," Sirius said, rubbing his hands together. Remus looked up at him and instantly felt cautious. Sirius wore the expression he usually reserved for when a particularly elaborate or devious prank was cooking up in his mind.

"I don't like the way you look right now," Remus said flatly.

Sirius cackled.

"Look, I know you didn't ask me over here just to berate me about making your girlfriend fall in love with me," Sirius said, causing Remus to wince slightly. He plowed on, "So I know you really wanted me over here to ask what to do about Shelby."

Remus nodded slowly, "Yes, but could you look a bit less... conniving about it?"

"Sure," Sirius said, rolling his eyes then throwing on a serious expression, "How's this?"

Remus nodded encouragingly.

"Look mate, first thing's first. You've got to trust me when I say that Shelby's crazy for you," Sirius explained, "And it's probably driving her batty that you're not acknowledging how she feels."

Remus opened his mouth to argue, but Sirius held up a hand and continued, "Once you get that settled in that impressive yet surprisingly dense brain of yours, then all that's left is to tell her that you feel the same way."

Sirius nodded once and leaned against the porch railing.

"Simple as that?" Remus asked sarcastically.

"What's the problem? You love her, she loves you, so bloody say it already. It's getting ridiculous, mate," Sirius said.

"The problem is... what if this ruins... everything?" Remus asked slowly.

"How do you mean?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I love Shelby. But she's my best mate. What if this whole... er... _love _thing scares her, and she won't speak with me or it makes our friendship awkward?" Remus was squirming in his seat. The last person he wanted to be spilling his innermost thoughts and feelings to was goofy, insensitive Sirius Black. And yet... he was proving surprisingly helpful.

"If she really _is_ your best mate, and she didn't feel the same way (which she does), then she'd want to help you through it," he shrugged, "You won't lose her over this."

Remus' heart raced at the very thought of having the 'I love you talk' with Shelby. And he still wasn't buying into the idea that she was 'crazy about him'. She couldn't be. He couldn't be so unbelievably lucky...

"How do I tell her? How would I even start the conversation?" he asked.

Sirius shrugged once more, "How should I know? You know her better than I do. And I probably wouldn't do much talking in a situation like that. Less talk, more snogging."

"You should get that tattooed somewhere," Remus scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Not a bad idea," Sirius smirked. He glanced down at his body, as if trying to decide the best place for inking such a sentiment.

Remus didn't reply. He glanced over at Shelby's house and sighed.

"Hey, are you taking Shelby to the party at James' this weekend?" Sirius asked.

"Oh... _that_. I'd forgotten," Remus replied.

"Yes, _that_. Bring her. It can be a date. And," Sirius' eyes lit up and he snapped his finger, "We'll do a kissing game! Pass the Pygmy Puff or Spin the Bottle or something and I'll rig it so you can kiss Shelby."

Sirius looked awfully pleased with himself and grinned at Remus, as if expecting Remus to declare him brilliant.

"Are you mental? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Remus snorted.

"You don't want to kiss her?" Sirius asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes, I do, very much, but... not like that."

Sirius bit his bottom lip and was silent for a moment.

"You're making things really difficult for me, you know," he finally said.

"Sorry, I'll work on that," Remus said, shaking his head.

"Listen, just bring her to the party, okay? It'll be fun, it'll be something you can do together, _and_ she's a Muggle so you'll have to drive and it'll be a lo-ooooong car ride together to James' place..." he trailed off, suggestively waggling his eyebrows.

"How _do_ you manage to make so many girls like you?" Remus asked, genuinely awed by his friend.

"I told you... I'm irresistibly charming," Sirius smiled.

"Do you have any other advice that's actually applicable in any way, shape or form?" Remus asked.

"All my advice is applicable if you're not a nancy," Sirius retorted.

Remus glared at him but didn't have say anything.

"Well, that's all the advice I have for one day. I've got my own love-life to concentrate on, after all," Sirius said.

"Oh, right... How are things going with Amelia?" Remus asked.

Sirius frowned and raised an eyebrow. He looked up, as if searching the sky for the right word. He finally settled on, "Swimmingly." With a nod he headed back into the house. Remus chuckled and followed behind him.

**A/N **I don't know why, but this turned out to be a favorite chapter... Sirius is a real crack up. Love that chap.


	8. Chapter Eight

**A/N** Bit of a filler. A warm-up for the next chapter. Just so you know, I hate when I read a story that just keeps pushing the hell out of the 'will they or won't they' factor, or the 'Pam and Jim' factor, as I like to call it. I mean, that sort of stuff works on television, but reading about it gets tedious as hell. All that to say... resolution of feelings is coming soon. Promise. =)

**Chapter 8**

Remus bit his lip nervously, standing on Shelby's doorstep. He'd knocked about a minute ago, but it didn't seem as if any of the Dixons were home. At any rate, their truck wasn't in the drive and he couldn't hear any sound from within. He felt relieved. He wasn't really sure what he was going to say to Shelby had she answered- that had all greatly depended on her facial expression when she'd opened the door and found him there.

He signed and turned to leave when the door suddenly swung open. And there she was, wrapped in a dressing gown with slippers on her feet. Remus nearly groaned aloud. Her expression was completely unreadable, blank even. That was... most unhelpful.

"Hi Lup," she finally said, when he appeared quite unable to speak.

"Hello," he managed, clearing his throat and sticking his hands in his pockets. He opened his mouth to say more, but stopped. His nervousness seemed to amuse her. At any rate, she smiled, opened the door wider and stepped back to let him in.

"What's going on, Remus?" she asked, leading him into the living room. The television was on, the volume extremely low, causing Remus brief distraction from his thoughts... how did it work, and how had Muggles figured out something so thoroughly complex without the use of mag-

He had more pressing issues to deal with. Taking his eyes off of the TV, he looked at Shelby. He cleared his throat again. She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her eyebrows, as if encouraging him to speak.

"Did I... er... are you angry with me?" he stammered.

"No," she said slowly, after some consideration.

"No?" he repeated, one eyebrow raised in question.

She shook her head, expression once more unreadable.

"I didn't do anything to upset you?" he pressed.

"Do anything?" she asked sharply.

He nodded, warily. Merlin, could she be any moodier lately?

"No, Lup. You most certainly did not do anything," she said, with obvious emphasis on the word 'do'.

Remus ran a hand nervously through his hair. Okay... what did that mean? And she wasn't angry with him... or so she said. Was she lying? Was something else bothering her?

"Um..." he jammed his hands back in his pockets, not really knowing what to do with his hands. He felt his fingers close around a crumpled bit of parchment in his pocket... Sirius' last correspondence. Which reminded him...

"Uh, that party? At James'?"

She nodded.

"It's tomorrow night. And I... did you... are we... Do you wanna go?" he blurted out. Oh, smooth as butter, Lupin. He nearly rolled his eyes at his own idiocy, but stopped himself. She was smiling at him. A genuine, good-natured Shelby smile. Thank God.

"You and I? Together?" she prompted. He swallowed hard, but nodded.

"Yeah, alright," she agreed, flopping down on the sofa, still smiling. She folded her feet underneath her and picked up the latest book she was reading. Remus remained standing awkwardly, hands in his pockets. She glanced up at him and indicated with a jerk of her head that he should sit. Which he did.

"Where're your dad and Landon?" he asked, allowing his eyes to drift back towards the television.

"In town," she replied, "Dad's making Landon get a job. Landon's not happy. Things have been tense around here."

"Hm," he replied, slightly entranced as he watched a cartoon dog capering about the television screen.

"Landon says he wants to wait on getting a job till he gets his grades from school. The N.E.W.T. results or whatever."

"Hm."

"But Dad says he's tired of Landon lazing about the house and using grades as an excuse," she continued.

"Hm," he repeated. She suddenly laughed. He tore his eyes from the television and looked at her.

"Should I just shut up so you can watch the telly?" she chuckled. He smiled back at her.

"Well, we don't have one. Never have," he replied, thinking he'd much rather just watch her... watch her smile, hear her laughter.

"I'm so used to it, I barely even notice when it's on anymore," she leaned back against the sofa cushions and opened her book, "You watch, I'll read. Change the channel if you want. This is a kid's show." She smiled and buried her nose in her book. A brief silence fell between them.

"How?" he asked suddenly.

"How what?" she asked, looking up.

"... do I change the channel?" he murmured sheepishly.

She laughed, then did something that took him completely unawares. She leaned in to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, one he was almost too surprised to return. At the last second he hugged her back, savoring the feel of her in his arms. She pulled away all too soon, leaving behind the faintest of kisses on his cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked, his voice suddenly hoarse and his face feeling as if it were scorching hot.

"For being you. And being completely and totally dense about normal, every day things," she replied. He noticed she was blushing, too. She stood up and walked to the television, then turned a dial on the set. Where a cartoon had been before, the images of a Muggle football game flickered instead.

"Wow," he breathed. She laughed again and planted herself back on the couch, much closer to him than she'd been before.

**A/N** Be a dear. Do us a favor and review if you can spare a minute. =)


	9. Chapter Nine

**A/N** Alrighty. I had to break this next chapter into two chapters because it ... needed to be... broken into two chapters. And I just realized I didn't really need to tell you that that's what I had done... And ... Anyway. Onward.

Also, thanks for the reviews! It was really nice to hear some feedback. =)

**Chapter 9**

Remus' heart thudded so loudly in his chest, he wondered if Shelby could hear it even over the roar of her dad's ancient truck's engine. If she did, she was apparently ignoring it, as she kept both hands on the steering wheel and her eyes keenly focused on the slick road as they drove to James' parents' house in London. Remus could barely even focus on how adorable Shelby looked in the glasses she wore when she drove… all he could think about was not making a total and complete idiot out of himself at what would probably be the most embarrassing social event of the century.

They almost had to call off attending. Shelby's dad was wary of her driving nearly two hours to the city for a party with several teenagers he did not know (although, what Remus suspected he was most concerned about was the truck breaking down mid-journey), and Remus' mom was absolutely horrified upon learning that Shelby had only recently acquired her driver's license. She had insisted on riding into town and back with Shelby driving to "make sure she could do it right," ("How would you even know, Mum?" Remus had asked, laughing) before giving her son permission to even set foot inside the vehicle.

Remus had very wisely left off telling his parents that James' mum and dad would not be home. The last time Remus had joined Sirius and James for an un-chaperoned weekend at James' house, the Potter's sitting room had nearly burned to the ground. They were only fourteen at the time, but still, nearly three years later, the incident had _not_ been forgotten.

"You're quite sure you're able to drive in the rain?" Remus' mom had nearly sobbed as she stood at the truck's passenger window, umbrella open to block the torrential downpour that had started so suddenly that Remus suspected someone had conjured up the storm.

"It'll be fine, Mrs. Lupin. I'll just drive extra slow," Shelby reassured her gently.

"And you'll be home no later than midnight?" Mrs. Lupin asked, nervously wringing her hands around the umbrella handle.

"You said 1:30 was okay earlier," Remus reminded her, going a bit red in the face. Honestly, this was getting embarrassing.

"That was before it was raining buckets," Mrs. Lupin responded, biting her lip.

"I'm sure it'll clear up before we leave James'," Remus said through gritted teeth, with a pointed look at his mother.

"Oh… alright…" she finally relented. She grabbed Remus' hand swiftly and tapped his wristwatch with her wand.

"That'll start yelling at you if you haven't left James' by midnight," she warned, "And there's nothing you can do about it," she added, knowing full well that Remus wasn't allowed to use magic over summer holiday.

"Mum, for heaven's sake," he mumbled, sure his face was beet red at this point.

"Be careful, please," she pleaded, backing away from the window.

"We will," Shelby promised, putting the truck in gear and slowly backing down the drive. As Remus rolled up the window, he heard his mom shout, "I love you!"

They were an hour into their journey and the rain had let up considerably. The clouds were still dark and the road muddy and wet, but at least they were no longer driving through a downpour. Shelby finally leaned back after being hunched over the steering wheel, her face inches from the windshield.

"It's funny how afraid your mum is of cars," she said, arching her back a bit, probably feeling stiff.

"Well, today when you took her to town may have been the first time she's ever ridden in one," he shrugged.

"So your mum's parents were both wizards, then? I mean… a witch and a wizard?"

"Yeah. My dad's mom was a witch, too. But his dad was… ordinary," he said.

"Ordinary," she repeated, smiling.

"Non-magical," he corrected.

They rode in silence for a few minutes, before he broke the silence.

"You don't ever think it's weird, the whole… wizarding thing?"

She narrowed her eyes, considering his question.

"It _is_ strange. But not in a bad way. Just… I wonder how it _works_, you know? How magic picks certain people, but not others. Like our family. We're all non-magical, but Landon levitates the refrigerator out of the blue when he's seven and all the sudden there's this whole secret, fascinating world that I would have never known about… But that I'll never really be a part of," she frowned and took her eyes off the road to look him in the eye, "You know… because I'm just… ordinary."

Remus was taken aback by her answer, but replied almost immediately, "That's not the word I'd use to describe you, Shelby."

She laughed, "Gee, thanks a lot."

"No, I don't mean it that way," he said, shaking his head, "I mean… you're… extraordinary."

"In what way?" she mused.

"Well, you're not like other girls," he said, taking advantage of the fact that she had her eyes on the road and not on him. He'd never be able to say the things he was about to say if her attention was totally focused on him. He'd just end up totally lost in her eyes. Even the thought of her eyes was beginning to distract him… He cleared his throat and continued.

"You're smarter than anyone I know. You can read a book faster than I can, and… well, not to brag, but that's a pretty impressive feat. And you don't just read it… I mean… you _get it_, too. You're so clever. And it's effortless for you."

"Not effortless," she mumbled, clearly embarrassed by his praise.

"And you're funny. Nobody makes me laugh like you can. Not even Sirius, who's one of the funniest people I know. Well, he's usually unintentionally funny, of course..."

She smiled and seemed to flush a bit as he continued.

"You're… you're so pretty. Nobody else has the same color eyes as you-"

"Plenty of people have green eyes," she interrupted softly with a shy laugh.

"Yeah, but not like yours," he argued, "Like, yours have these flecks of brown in them, and if you're feeling sad, they're a really dark, forest green. But when you're happy they're like… emeralds."

He stopped, feeling suddenly abashed. He looked out the window and prayed to be struck by lightning and just _knowing_ that no charm or spell or potion in the world could ever stop his face from blushing after an outburst like that.

There was silence once more, until Shelby looked over at him again.

"I don't know how extraordinary those things make me… but thank you, Lup."

He just nodded and looked down at his hands.

**A/N** Cheesier than a bag of Cheetos, I know… but I don't care.


	10. Chapter Ten

**A/N** I really love this chapter with all of my heart. So be nice to it. And to me. =)

**Chapter 10**

"Lupin! Shelby!" Sirius greeting, swinging open the front door of the Potter's house like he owned the place.

"Hi Sirius!" Shelby said brightly, stepping over the threshold. Sirius hugged her, but Remus acknowledged gratefully that he seemed to keep the hug short and extremely platonic.

"I didn't know you wore glasses," Sirius said. If Shelby had been a witch, she couldn't have vanished her glasses quicker than she whipped them off of her face and into her jacket pocket.

"For driving," she said, blushing.

"You look lovely in them! Right, Remus?" Sirius nudged Remus in the ribs, much harder than necessary, Remus thought.

"Right," he said, wincing and massaging his side.

"Lemme take your jackets," Sirius barked, sending the jackets flying into the hall closet with a flick of his wand.

"Have you been doing magic all summer?" Remus asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, the Ministry'd never know. They'd just think it's James' parents. Do it at my house all the time, too," Sirius shrugged, leading them upstairs where the unmistakable sounds of a highly energized party were drifting down to them.

"Well great, think you could break this charm my mum put on my watch?" Remus asked, holding up his wrist.

"Remus, you'd make your mother cry if she heard you saying that," Shelby scolded good-naturedly.

"Good thing she's not here," he smiled.

"I don't know, she probably put a spell on your watch and is using it as a walkie-talkie," Shelby laughed.

"What's a walkie-talkie?" Remus and Sirius asked at the same time.

"Never mind," Shelby chuckled.

She seemed to falter before entering the room Sirius was about to lead them into. She grabbed Remus' hand.

"Am I the only person here who's not a witch?" she whispered anxiously.

"Well… no. The boys are wizards, not witches," he replied coyly.

"Seriously, Lup, what if nobody talks to me?" she bit her lip and peered around him into a crowded, lively room.

"Everybody'll love you," he reassured her, squeezing her hand tightly, "And if by some completely crazy chance that they don't… Sirius can just hex them or something."

She smiled uncertainly, but still looked nervous.

"It'll be fine, I promise," he said soothingly, "You… uh… can hold my hand the whole time if you need to."

They entered the room and were immediately greeted by James, who nearly tackled them both to the floor. Peter sidled up a moment later and joined their conversation, which was fine, only Remus wished Peter would stop waggling his eyebrows knowingly towards Shelby.

Remus was especially grateful when Lily Evans approached Shelby and began asking her where she'd bought her dress. Lily was James'… well, something between his girlfriend and mortal enemy, they hadn't seemed decided on which it was yet. Shelby and Lily became absorbed in conversation, Shelby relaxed her grip on Remus' hand (to his disappointment), and James eventually led Remus over to a table laden with refreshments.

"Look at Sirius," James giggled, pointing towards Sirius who was deep in conversation with Amelia Thorne.

"Oh. _That_. Sirius said things were going well," Remus shrugged.

"Pft… right," James laughed, "I'm fairly certain Amelia hates Sirius. She just doesn't seem impressed by the Black Charm!"

Sure enough, Amelia, looking bored, appeared to excuse herself. Sirius, looking agitated, watched her walk away. Upon spying Remus and James staring over at him, his expression changed to its usual confident smirk and he sauntered over to them.

"So close," he declared.

"To what?" Remus asked, politely.

"You know what," Sirius smiled suggestively. James giggled again and covered up his sudden burst of laughter by taking a swig of his drink.

"Saw Shelby holding your hand," Sirius declared in a sing-songy voice, filling up two glasses from an unmarked bottle with what Remus recognized by both sight and smell as firewhiskey. He pushed one towards Remus and gulped the other down in one swallow.

"I'm not drinking this," Remus said flatly, pushing his glass back across the table to Sirius.

"Moony… you're _such_ a prude," James scoffed. 'Moony, you're such a prude', was something of a catch phrase of James and Sirius'.

"My mother will murder me if I come home smelling like that," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"_Prefect_," Sirius hissed, as if he were calling Remus a particularly nasty swear word. Remus had to laugh, Sirius just rolled his eyes.

"I think you should try it," Sirius pressured, "It'll loosen you up a bit. Help you make your move."

"I'm actually doing just fine tonight without being intoxicated, thank you," Remus replied loftily.

"Oh, are you?" Sirius challenged.

"Yeah. I told her she was pretty. _And_ I held her hand. Well… she held mine," he replied.

James just stared at him. Sirius barked out a loud, insensitive laugh.

"Congratulations, Moony, when's the wedding?" he snorted.

"Oh shut up," Remus growled, pushing Sirius aside to go talk to Shelby.

She was still talking to Lily and a few other girls who attended Hogwarts had joined the two, although Remus couldn't remember what year or House they belonged to.

"Remus, we were just talking about you!" Lily declared, sending a not-so-discreet wink in Shelby's direction.

"Good things, I hope," Remus replied, an unnatural boldness stealing over him as he threw his arm around Shelby's shoulder and pulled her close to his side.

One of the girls giggled.

"Hello," she said, "I'm Kathy Singh. We have Ancient Runes together. Well, we _did_, but I dropped the class. It was really hard, don't you think?"

Remus nodded, thinking Ancient Runes was just about the easiest subject in school. He didn't say so, he just shook Kathy's hand and smiled.

"It's so sweet, the two of you," Kathy continued, looking back and forth between Remus and Shelby.

"What's sweet?" Remus asked.

"I mean, it's just so romantic. She's a Muggle, you're a Wizard. It's like Romeo and Juliet," she sighed.

Remus had no idea what to say to… _any_ of that. Shelby, however, laughed and replied, "Except our families don't hate each other and I'm not planning on killing myself over the whole affair anytime soon."

Lily laughed, Remus smiled and shrugged and Kathy furrowed her eyebrows. Just then, Sirius' voice, magically amplified over the noise of the party, announced that it was time for a game.

Remus' heart sank. Was he really going to do this? Nervousness instantly stole over him once more, his heart took up its pounding from earlier and his mouth suddenly felt dry.

"Everyone, circle up," Sirius was demanding, pointing people to sitting positions on the floor.

"Oh, he's absolutely doing this," Remus mumbled.

"Doing what?" Shelby asked suspiciously.

Remus hopelessly gestured to the bottle Sirius had recently drained of firewhiskey.

"Spin the Bottle? You're joking!" she laughed, settling herself on the floor next to Lily. She seemed totally unfazed by the whole situation, _excited_ even. She and Lily, who had obviously become fast friends, put their heads together and began earnestly whispering.

"Sit down, Remus John Lupin," James demanded loudly. Remus noticed everyone else in the room was seated, staring at him and he was the only one still standing, arms folded across his chest. With a particularly malevolent look to first James, then Sirius, he sat.

Sirius grinned and rubbed his hands together.

"All right," he announced, "You all know the game. Spin the Bottle."

Some people groaned, some laughed. Remus shot Sirius a pleading look, mentally begging him to reconsider. Sirius either didn't see, or ignored him and plowed on.

"We'll decide who goes first by birthday. Anybody have a birthday coming up?"

"Mine's in two weeks," Peter beamed.

"Anybody before then? No? Pete, give it a go, mate," Sirius dropped the bottle in the middle of the circle and flopped down next to James.

Peter spun the bottle and everyone burst out laughing as the neck came to rest pointing right between James and Sirius.

"Absolutely not," James spluttered, looking moderately horrified.

"Ugh, spin again," Sirius demanded, his nose wrinkled in disgust. Peter spun once more and sent Sirius an apologetic wince when the bottle pointed to Amelia Thorne. Peter quickly kissed Amelia's cheek, and then Amelia spun. Again, everyone laughed as the bottle pointed right back at Peter. The two smiled at each other and kissed again, this time on the lips, then Peter spun once more. This time, the bottle pointed to Shelby. Remus wanted to curse. Seriously? _Peter_ was going to kiss Shelby before he ever got the chance to? The cosmic injustice of it all made his stomach ache.

"Hi Peter," Shelby laughed, as Peter crossed the circle and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Er, thanks," he said nervously, causing everyone to laugh again.

"This is getting ridiculous, Peter's getting more snogging done in one night than he will in an entire year," Sirius barked.

"Hey!" Peter exclaimed.

"Spin, Shelby," Sirius demanded, ignoring Peter's protest. She did and Remus wondered how in the world nobody saw fit to protest the obvious use of magic that made the bottle spin in the complete opposite direction and land after one revolution pointing _right_ at Remus.

"Oh, bloody hell," Remus whispered. He turned to face Shelby who gave him a shy, half-smile. She was blushing, her eyes were sparkling, she looked absolutely beautiful… And he had _never_ wanted to kiss her less than right at that moment. Never, in all the thousands of times he had pictured their first kiss, did some stupid, _rigged_ kissing game factor into the equation, nor did the presence of his three best friends and a gaggle of random classmates from school. Everyone was staring at them, Remus felt his hands go clammy and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. _Not like this_, he thought desperately.

"Kiss her already!" James hooted, eliciting various catcalls and cheers from the rest of the group. Shelby lifted an eyebrow and smiled encouragingly at him. Remus licked his lips.

"Shelbs," he whispered hoarsely.

"What, Lup?" she whispered back, taking his hand.

"I…" he searched her eyes, willing for her to understand. She just seemed puzzled, one eyebrow still lifted.

"… can't," he finally said. In that moment, her face completely fell, he saw tears instantly spring into her eyes and Remus wished the floor would split and swallow him up.

He barely had time to consider what had just happened, as something nearly as surprising as the earth opening transpired in that moment. Where nobody had been before, there were suddenly several grown-up wizards standing in the middle of the circle of shocked teenagers. Remus' heart sank, if possible, even further as he recognized the insignia on their robes that identified them as wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad.

"James Alan Potter?" asked a square jawed wizard authoritatively.

"Oh, shit!" Sirius moaned loudly. Amelia Thorne burst out laughing. Everyone else remained completely silent.

"Er… uh… present?" James replied, lifting one hand.

"Mr. Potter," the wizard said, "My name is Thomas Begum, and I'm Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. We've been informed by the Improper Use of Magic Office that an unacceptably great deal of underage sorcery has been performed in your home this evening."

"Underage sorcery?" James asked, his voice much squeakier than usual. He shot Sirius a look that clearly translated to, 'You said they'd never find out!' Sirius gazed back at him, helplessly. Under other circumstances, Remus might have laughed at their forlorn expressions.

"Yes, Mr. Potter," the Begum snapped, "Your parents are _clearly_ out and you _clearly_ seized the opportunity of their absence to throw an elaborate party complete with alcohol and underage magic."

"Half a minute, who said my parents were out?" James asked defensively. Remus rolled his eyes. _Lying to the Department of Law Enforcement. Well done, James._

"Please answer truthfully, so that we might begin the process of sorting this business out; Are your parents James Potter Sr. and Alice Fawcett-Potter currently on a weekend holiday in Paris?" asked Begum.

"Yes," James mumbled, defeated.

"And so," continued the wizard, "It would appear that they would be quite unable to cast any of the charms that were detected in your home this evening. Logic, therefore, leads me to conclude that said charms must have been performed by you or one of your many friends assembled here this evening."

Nobody said a word. Begum was obviously looking for one of the to take the rap. As far as Remus knew, Sirius had been the only one performing illegal magic that evening (possibly James, as well), but it appeared that nobody was willing to rat him out.

"So one or two harmless charms were cast. What's the big deal?" Sirius had stood up and crossed his arms, "We didn't hurt anyone."

"The 'big deal' is that you've not only broken the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, but the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Were you unaware, Mr. Potter, of the presence of a Muggle in your home as of 8:36 this evening?" Begum's eyes fell on Shelby and Remus protectively squeezed her hand.

"She's a friend," James said quickly.

"Friend or not, the Muggle's memory will have to be modified," Begum said, drawing his wand. Shelby gasped and Lily laid a hand on her knee.

Remus was on his feet in an instant.

"She's an exception to the Statute!" he exclaimed, panicked, "Her brother just completed his seventh year at Hogwarts. He's Muggle born, he's a wizard. She's known about the Wizarding World for seven years, magic is allowed to be performed in front of her!"

"What is the Muggle's brother's name?" demanded Begum.

"The _Muggle_ can talk," Shelby said in a low voice, "My brother's name is Landon Dixon."

"We all went to school with him this year," Sirius confirmed. Begum's eyes swept over the group of anxious-looking teenagers, then he gave a curt nod.

"As you all seem unwilling to identify the offender, all of your parents will be receiving notifications by owl this evening, noting your possible participation in underage sorcery, a near breach of the Statute of Secrecy, and, if I may say so, a general lack of cooperation with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Begum crossed his arms, looking quite haughty.

In the silence that followed Begum's declaration, Remus' watch suddenly shouted out, "YOU'RE LATE!" in his mother's voice.

"Um…" he looked down at his wrist, "My er… mum says it's time for me to leave."

Sirius burst out laughing. James followed, and soon most of the teenagers in the room had joined in. Begum glowered at Remus and demanded he tell him his name and address before allowing Remus and Shelby to leave the house. Remus gave him the information, waved at Sirius and James, then led Shelby out of the room and down the stairs. In the front hall, they grabbed their jackets from the closet and were soon out the door.

**A/N** So... there's that. More to come either tomorrow or Thursday. Hope y'all like it!


	11. Chapter Eleven

**A/N** I can't stop writing! I think this bad boy might be finished in the next week or so! And it only took me seven years to finish it. ;)

**Chapter 11**

Shelby ripped open her door so violently, Remus was surprised it didn't go flying off the truck. She slammed it closed behind her with equal force. Remus barely had time to get in the truck before she was throwing it in gear and speeding off down the road. He quickly buckled his seatbelt. It was raining again, just as hard as before- big fat drops that soaked the windshield faster than the wipers could keep up with.

"Shelby, I-" he began.

"That asshole! Did you hear how he was talking about me? '_The Muggle_'. He acted like I wasn't even in the room! _AND HE WAS GOING TO ERASE MY MEMORY_? Shouldn't there be _laws_ against that?" she was full-on screaming, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

"Shelbs, he didn't mean anyth-"

"You're defending him!" she shrieked, swerving on the road slightly. Remus gripped arm-rest and didn't answer.

"I understand now," she said, her voice breaking, "I understand everything. It's fine to be my friend when it's just you and I, but the minute we're with other people… other people like _you,_ you're embarrassed of me!"

"What are you talking about, Shelby?" Remus asked, thoroughly bewildered.

"Don't play dumb!" she cried, "What other explanation is there? We're best mates back home, then when Sirius shows up, you act sullen and quiet, like I'm not even around. You didn't want to go to the party with me tonight, you _never_ did! You don't want people knowing you've got a Muggle for a best friend! I'm such an idiot! I bought all of that stupid, soppy stuff you were saying earlier and you were lying to me. It all makes sense now," she was crying now, not even bothering to stop the tears that were freely streaming down her face.

"That's not true," he said helplessly, wanting to cry himself.

"You have another explanation?" she challenged, angrily dragging the back of her hand across her wet face, "Why else would you think it was so horrible to have to kiss me tonight?"

"Are you joking?" he exploded, "You think the reason I didn't want to kiss you tonight is because I'm _embarrassed _by you?"

"Yes," she sobbed, "And I was stupid enough before I came home from the States to think that this might actually be the summer that I was finally able to tell you how I felt about you… to tell you I was in love with you and to hopefully hear the same from you. But you don't even _like_ me, do you Remus?"

Before Remus could unequivocally deny what she had said, a loud booming sound blasted throughout the truck cabin.

"What was that?" he asked, eyes widened as Shelby pulled off to the side of the road.

"Flat tire," she wept, "Could this night be _any_ worse?"

The truck stopped and she laid her head on the steering wheel, crying. Instinctively Remus slid over in the seat and put his arm around her.

"Shelby," he said quietly.

"Please don't touch me," she said in a small voice, leaning out of his grasp and opening her door. She stepped out into the rainy night and slammed the door once more behind her. With a huge sigh, he watched her move to the bed of the truck and pull out a spare tire, and various other tools he couldn't identify.

He stepped out of the truck and met her on the other side, where she was apparently using one of the tools to lift one side of the truck off of the ground.

"Let me help you," he said loudly, over the noisy torrent of rain beating the ground as it fell.

"What would you know about changing a tire?" she shouted as a crash of thunder sounded.

"Nothing," he admitted, kneeling down beside her as she cranked the tool.

"Shelby," he said, wiping rain from his eyes, "The reason I didn't want to kiss you tonight-"

"Don't," she snapped, "I've been completely embarrassed enough for one night."

"No, listen to me!" he yelled, grabbing her arm. He pulled her to her feet and she looked up at him, and whether it was rain or tears streaming down her face, he couldn't tell.

"Shelby, I didn't want to kiss you tonight because… it just felt wrong. In all the times I ever imagined kissing you- and believe me, the thought has crossed my mind probably twenty times a day every day for at least the last five years- I _never_ imagined it the way things were going tonight. Shelby… I…"

Lightning illuminated the ridiculous scene they found themselves enacting. The beat up old truck teetered helplessly on one side, they were both bedraggled looking, soaked to the bone, her hands were covered in grease from the tire tools. He hesitated for a brief moment before finally surrendering to the feelings he'd kept bottled up for years. Remus, for all his cool, reasonable calmness understood that it was now or never.

"Shelby… I'm in love with you. I always have been. Ever since we were kids. I meant every word I said to you tonight. You're smart and funny and beautiful and you're the only girl that I'll ever love. I'll love you as long as I live. And even though this isn't the way I imagined our first kiss either, I'll be damned if I don't kiss you now."

Before she could reply, he grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her fiercely. She was surprised at first, he could tell. He felt her body tensed up. Soon, however, she relaxed into him, returning his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. How long they stood that way, he couldn't have said. All that mattered was that he was kissing her and she was kissing him back.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**A/N** Last chapter. Gosh, I'm sad it's over! So ends this particular chapter of the Remus/Shelby tale… But it's not the end of their story. I know how their story ends, and I would love to write a follow-up, but with my spotty writing/updating history, it's best to just be optimistic without actually promising anything. =) Anyway, hope you like the final chapter! Reviews are always nice, if you can spare a minute.

**Chapter 12**

It was nearly three in the morning when Shelby and Remus arrived home. Shelby killed the engine and put the truck in neutral so the roar of the engine wouldn't wake anyone up… assuming Mrs. Lupin wasn't still awake in her sitting room crying her eyes out, or Mr. Dixon laying in wait on his porch with a shotgun across his knees. Remus lifted the door of the car house and rolled the truck in, noting that there were no lights on in either the Lupin's or the Dixon's home.

Shelby put the truck in park and stepped out of the car, looking around warily.

"No way are we going to get off that easily," she said quietly.

"I'm absolutely sure my mum's awake," Remus answered. Shelby smiled at him and stepped into his arms. Remus grinned from ear to ear and rested his chin atop her head, noting with a ridiculous surge of pleasure that she fit there perfectly, as if she belonged there.

"I don't want to say goodnight," she mumbled.

"Me neither," he said, wrapping his arms tightly around her, "But if I don't get in soon, I won't be allowed out of my room the rest of the summer."

"Hey," she said brightly, "Here's an idea. Landon's of age, he can do a spell to turn the clocks back or something. And then maybe a few memory modifications."

He looked down at her, smiling, "I like this mischievous side of you, Shelbs."

"Thanks," she laughed.

He kissed her swiftly and reluctantly released her from his arms.

"See you tomorrow, I hope," he said.

"Fingers crossed," she replied.

"I love you," he told her, surprised at how easy and natural those three little words now came.

Even in the dim light, he saw her eyes sparkle.

"Say it again," she whispered.

"I love you," he repeated, his smile threatening to split his face.

"Once more," she demanded, giggling.

"I love y-"

Light illuminated the front lawn at Remus' place. Someone had turned on the front room lights.

"Oh, bloody hell," he groaned.

"Go," Shelby demanded, standing on tip-toes and kissing him. She turned and ran from the shelter of the car house through the rain, up the front steps and into her house. Remus watched her go, knowing that any punishment his mother doled out to him would be one hundred percent worth it. He closed the car house door and jogged inside, happier than he'd ever been in his entire life.

Remus' mom was plenty pissed off at him for leaving out the minor detail that James' parents were out of town, surprisingly understanding about the owl she'd received from the Ministry, and unnerved about the flat tire on the truck ("You could have been killed!"). All in all, he felt it was pretty fair when she only grounded him for one week instead of the rest of his teenage life.

"I feel like a normal mum for once," she said, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips as she sent Remus upstairs to his room.

"Why? Because I'm getting punished for breaking curfew and going to a party that got raided by the Law Enforcement Squad?" he asked.

"Yes. Now you'd better go upstairs before I change my mind on how long you're grounded," she said, shaking her head.

"Right. Sorry Mum," he said, heading up the stairs. About halfway up, he turned and looked back at her.

"Thought you might like to know- I've got a girlfriend now."

"Oh? Anyone I know?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Nice girl. Lives next door to us," he replied.

She broke into a smile that almost matched his.

"Congratulations," she laughed, "Now go to bed."

* * *

Remus yawned and rubbed his eyes as he trooped down the stairs around noon.

"My son, the truant," his dad greeted as he entered the kitchen.

"Er… hi Dad," Remus replied, helping himself to a biscuit from the tin on the table.

"Healthy breakfast," his dad smirked.

"Well, it's more like lunch, isn't it?" Remus asked smartly, collapsing into the nearest chair.

"Don't get too comfortable," his dad said, "You're going to mow the lawn today."

Remus stared at him blankly.

"But Dad, I'm not allowed to use magic on holiday."

"Yes, I know."

Realization dawned over him.

"Without magic?" he yelped, "Dad… We live on a farm! The grounds are… _extensive_."

Remus scowled as his dad had to nerve to actually start laughing at him.

"Think of it as my way of contributing to your punishment, but also allowing you to see that pretty girlfriend of yours while you're grounded," he chuckled, "You'll have to go over to the Dixons and borrow their mower, after all."

"Thanks, Dad," Remus grumbled, hoisting himself out of his chair.

"You're quite welcome," he replied, opening the newspaper and disappearing behind it.

Remus crossed the lawn, dreading the full-day's work that lay ahead of him. The rain from the night before had cleared away completely and a blazing July sun beat down on him. Remus sighed. The Dixon's mower wasn't even motorized, just an old push mower with rusty blades that were about as dull as butter knives.

"I'd do better with a pair of garden shears," Remus mumbled, knocking on the Dixon's door. Landon answered a moment later.

"Three in the morning?" he hissed upon opening the door and dragging Remus inside, "Are you batty? You're lucky it's the one Saturday a month my dad had to work. He fell asleep early last night. _And_ you're lucky I charmed his sleep so he wouldn't wake up when you got home… AT THREE IN THE MORNING."

"We got a flat tire!" Remus protested.

"A likely story," Landon scoffed.

"It's true!"

"Landon! Leave him alone," Shelby demanded, pushing her older brother out of the way. Remus' face lit up as she came into view. Forgetting Landon was still there, he scooped her up into his arms and planted a big kiss on her lips.

Landon gaped at them.

"Oh… er… Landon… Remus and I are together now," Shelby explained, blushing.

"I can see that," he sneered.

"_Landon_," Shelby said warningly.

"Oh, don't mind me," Landon said, raising his hands as if in surrender, "I'll just be filling out job applications whilst the two of you snog and break curfew by _hours_ and don't even get in trouble for it!"

"Hey, I'm grounded, alright?" Remus snapped.

"You are?" Shelby asked.

"For a week. I'm only allowed over here because I need to borrow your lawn mower. Dad's making me do the whole lawn," Remus answered.

"Sweet justice," Landon smirked, heading out of the room.

"Shut up!" Remus called to his retreating backside.

Shelby smiled at him and took his hand. She led him through the house and out the back door to the old barn where years ago, horses had been boarded but not played host to only rusty old farm equipment and several cats.

"Want help?" she asked, "You mow, I'll rake up behind you?"

"You're sweet," he said, kissing her forehead, "But I don't want to make you do a smelly day's work."

"I feel bad, you taking all the blame for last night while I get off scot free. Let me help. How else are we supposed to spend time together while you're grounded?"

He looked at her skeptically.

"Please?" she added sweetly.

"This is not the way I pictured spending our first day as a couple together," he acquiesced.

"Me either," she laughed.

At dusk, Remus bade a reluctant farewell to Shelby. He knew his mother would be strict about his grounding… the coming week was going to absolutely crawl by.

* * *

A week later, Remus crossed the yard to the Dixon's. Shelby met him halfway, running at him in a full sprint. She nearly knocked him over, kissing him forcefully.

"That was the longest week of my life," they said simultaneously as soon as their lips parted, causing both of them to laugh. Sure enough, Remus' mum had been unbendingly rigid about his grounding. The only contact he and Shelby had made was when she'd open her bedroom curtains at night and wave forlornly at him. She'd mouth the words 'I love you!' and he'd pretend to be overcome with emotion and fall back on his bed, causing her to laugh and blow him kisses. She was so beautiful! And so close… yet so far away! The week had dragged on and on… The full moon was approaching and Remus was sad to think that they'd only have a day together after his grounding ended and the night of his monthly transformation came.

"Let's go for a walk," he said, taking her hand. They lazily made their way down to the Jenkin's old farmhouse.

Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins were the oldest people Remus knew and had long given up the care of their place to one of their grandchildren who lived in London and made the drive out to check on his grandparents once every month or so. The place was totally run down; huge trees, hundreds of years old sprawled across the grounds, old farm equipment lay rusting in the overgrown fields and hungry-looking chickens pecked their way through tall grass and weeds. Wildflowers grew unchecked around the pond and down by the old barn, once red and bright but now gray and weather-stained. Despite being owned by two old Muggles, the Jenkins farm was the most magical place Remus knew.

The Jenkins were currently on their front porch, both sitting in ancient rocking chairs. Remus waved, his way of asking the old couple's permission to amble around their property and Mrs. Jenkins raised a hand and feebly waived back, her way of granting it.

"Sweet, aren't they?" Shelby asked, climbing onto an old tire swing that hung from a magnificent oak tree.

"Mhm," Remus agreed, giving the swing a push.

"Wonder how old they are," she mused.

"Dunno," he said, "My dad said they were ancient when _he_ was young, and my parents are pretty old themselves."

"Maybe they're ghosts," she suggested dreamily, leaning back in the swing so it spun around, "They died ages ago and they couldn't bear to leave the place they'd spent so many years happy and in love."

"That's awfully romantic and slightly morbid of you," he laughed, giving the swing another push, "But I'm pretty sure they aren't ghosts."

"They're not?" she asked.

"No… they're too solid and colorful to be ghosts," he smiled.

"Oh! That's right! You've actually _seen_ ghosts. One of your teachers is a ghost, isn't he?" she asked.

"Professor Binns. He's the most boring teacher in the entire school."

"Yeah, Sirius said the same thing," Shelby said.

"Only class I've ever gotten poor marks in. I just can't stay awa-" Remus stopped suddenly. "Hang on," he said, pulling the swing to a stop, "When exactly were you talking to Sirius about Binns?"

"Two weeks ago when he dropped by and you were so annoyed with him," she replied, obviously amused.

"While we're on that topic, what on earth was going on these past few weeks with you and Sirius?" Remus couldn't believe he'd forgotten about Shelby's seeming infatuation with his best friend since the beginning of the summer. But now it all came rushing back to him- the questions about Sirius, the constant dropping of his name into conversation, how painfully constricted his chest felt those times when they appeared to be flirting with one another.

"What do you mean, what was going on with us?" she smiled.

"Out with it, Shelby Anne Dixon!" he demanded, "I've no problem admitting that you had me in absolute _fits_ of jealousy every time you mentioned his bloody name!"

Her smile faltered upon hearing this declaration.

"Aw, Lup," she took one of his hands and pressed it to her lips, kissing it firmly.

"Promise me," she said, "That you'll be angry at Sirius when I tell you this, and not at me?"

He titled his head to the side, bewildered.

"Um, alright?" he agreed, purely out of curiosity.

Shelby took a deep breath, laughed to herself, shook her head and began.

"Before summer hols, I… wrote Sirius a letter."

"You wrote to Sirius? At Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, and apparently he had quite the job keeping it secret from you," she replied.

"What did the letter say?" he asked, settling himself next to her on the swing.

"Well, I had a little problem, in that I was totally in love with my best friend and unsure how to proceed, seeing as how said best friend can be a bit… closed off emotionally," she winced. Remus nodded, having to admit to himself that she was quite right.

"I thought it a good idea to consult my best mate's best mate to see what he thought of everything," Shelby continued, "I wanted to know if he thought I should make a move, or let you- that is, if you felt the same way about me that I felt about you."

"Did Sirius tell you I liked you?" Remus asked.

"No. He said he couldn't say for sure, since you were always deflecting the subject if he brought it up," she shrugged.

"So? What'd he tell you to do?" he asked.

Shelby winced again and her cheeks flushed, "I know this sounds ridiculous, I mean, I even thought it was ridiculous as soon as Sirius suggested it… He said if I ever wanted to get a confession out of you, I'd have to force it out. He said you'd never come clean on your own and that you'd need a bit of persuading. He said-" Shelby buried her face in her hands, she was now completely beet red, "He said… I should try to make you jealous and that he would help me do it."

"What? Shelbs, you went along with that?" Remus practically yelped.

"I know, I know," she moaned, "But you've got to realize, Lup, I was desperate to know if you felt the slightest thing for me, or if you had convinced yourself ages ago that we were just friends."

"You couldn't have just come right out and asked me if I liked you?" he gaped.

"And have you feel totally awkward around me if you didn't?" she asked, "Look, I'd gone over and over it in my mind about a million times how I could ever bring myself to admit my feelings for you. Remus, I'd rather have died than to know that you only thought of me as a friend!"

He wrapped his arm around her, knowing exactly how she felt. Those were the very reasons he had never just come out and told Shelby the way he felt about her. But wait a minute… Sirius knew the whole time that they were both in love with each other?

"Why didn't that stupid git SAY ANYTHING?" Remus exploded, leaping off of the swing.

"Lup, I made him promise not to tell you that I'd written to him, or to tell you that I loved you. It's really not his fault. He's been really helpful," Shelby mumbled.

"Helpful, sure. Right pain in my arse, Sirius," he said, shaking his head. He sat on the swing again, folding his arms across his chest.

"It all worked out in the end though, yeah?" she asked, laying her head on his shoulder. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah," he agreed, "But I _am_ sorry."

"For what?" she asked, leaning back to look up at him.

"Waiting. I've loved you for so long… I owed it to you to tell you. And I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner. Forgive me?"

"Of course," she whispered, kissing him gently. They sat in silence for a few moments; the only sound was the chirping of birds and a slight breeze stirring the leaves above them.

"I think I'm going to kill Sirius," Remus finally decided.

"Ooh, Marauder position opening up," she grinned, standing up on the old tire and leaning to one side, "Should I submit my application?" Remus laughed and stood as well.

"It's a tiring job," he noted as the swing began to spin around, "Things can get a bit crazy."

"Yeah, but if it gets too out of control, I heard there's a Prefect in the bunch to calm things down," she laughed.

"He's a bit non-confrontational, actually," he grinned wryly, "Poor bloke won't speak his mind half the time."

"Well, maybe he'll learn some sort of valuable lesson over summer holiday and be full of confidence next term," she suggested, raising one eyebrow.

"We'll see," he replied, laughing. Shelby jumped down from the swing and began walking towards the pond. Remus lagged behind, thinking about all the components of his strange life. A short three and a half weeks ago he had been just a Marauding-Prefect-Werewolf. He noted now with considerable giddy happiness that he could add 'Boyfriend' to his title. Somehow, he didn't think the new addition would prove quite so exhausting…


End file.
